Speech at the Brandenburg Gate
Wagenknecht: Israel’s bombs strengthen terror
November 25, 2023, 3:37 p.m
The former left-wing politician Sahra Wagenknecht is shocked by the Hamas massacre of Israelis, but also calls for the same indignation with regard to the Israeli military’s bombings in the Gaza Strip. According to her, ruthless warfare does not protect Jewish life, but endangers it.
The former left-wing politician Sahra Wagenknecht has sharply criticized the course of the Israeli and German governments in the Gaza war. “We Germans in particular have a special responsibility for Jewish life,” said Wagenknecht at a peace demonstration in Berlin. “And we have the responsibility to defend Israel’s right to exist without any ifs or buts.” But this responsibility “does not oblige us to whitewash and support the Netanyahu government’s reckless warfare as self-defense.” This escalation of war does not protect Jewish life, it endangers Jewish life. “It’s absurd to believe that bombs weaken Islamist terror. They strengthen it.” Wagenknecht recalled the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. “Haven’t we learned anything at all from all the wars of the past few years?”
Wagenknecht previously said: “On October 7th, we were all horrified and shocked by the terrible massacres of the Islamist Hamas, by the murders of innocent civilians, women and children.” Nothing, no injustice in this world, justifies such crimes. But she thinks “we should be just as shocked and horrified by the reckless bombings in the Gaza Strip.”
According to the police, there were around 5,000 participants in the demonstration; the organizers spoke of 20,000. 10,000 registered. After the rally at the Brandenburg Gate, the participants marched through the government district drumming.
Wagenknecht, who is currently founding a new party, spoke about the Ukraine war together with women’s rights activist Alice Schwarzer at the Brandenburg Gate in February. The call for a demonstration is supported by left-wing politicians, trade unionists and some artists.